A pharmacy often receives prescription information for a customer ahead of that customer's visit to the pharmacy. In some cases, a pharmacy customer may call in a prescription refill in advance of a visit to the pharmacy to pick up the refill. In other cases, a prescription may be called in by a customer's health care provider ahead of the customer's visit to pick up the prescription. Additionally, a pharmacy may have access to further customer information required to process prescriptions including health insurance information, health care provider information, and payment method information. A pharmacy may also have access to a customer's health information including a patient's medical history and allergies.
To make pharmacy visits more convenient for customers, some pharmacies have implemented drive-through, rapid pick-up, or other services. The drive-thru pickup process generally involves the customer communicating with pharmacy staff using a speaker and microphone located outside of the pharmacy at the start of a drive-thru lane. Once the pharmacy staff receives the customer information by speaking to the customer, the pharmacy staff fills the prescription order, hands the customer the prescription order when the vehicle pulls up to a drive-thru window, processes the payment, and answers any questions regarding the medication. The rapid pickup process generally involves the customer communicating with store personnel ahead of visiting the pharmacy. Once the customer arrives at the store, the customer may be serviced in his or her vehicle or at a rapid pick-up counter, for example. The pharmacy staff may then hand the customer the prescription order, process the payment, and answer any questions regarding the medication.
Conventional systems often suffer from inefficiencies because while several customers may be waiting in an access area, such as a drive-thru lane or rapid pick-up area, only one customer may be serviced at a time. For example, conventional systems require waiting customers to be identified by direct interaction between the customer and the pharmacy staff (i.e., over an intercom or at a drive-thru window), which slows the process as time is needed to enter the customer's information, lookup the customer's account, and, if applicable, fill and hand over the customer's prescription order. Additionally, a customer may have questions or concerns to discuss with pharmacy staff regarding, for example, changes to his or her information or concerns over a new prescription, further slowing down the process as the conversations happen through direct interaction with pharmacy staff and one at a time.
Accordingly, there is an opportunity for platforms and technologies that enable more efficiency in a customer waiting or pickup area.